


How Predictable You Are

by Full_Shadow_Alchemist



Category: Dishonored (Video Games)
Genre: Emetophobia, Family Feels, Kidnapping, M/M, POV Outsider
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-26
Updated: 2020-10-26
Packaged: 2021-03-08 19:00:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,360
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27201469
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Full_Shadow_Alchemist/pseuds/Full_Shadow_Alchemist
Summary: It was the same bright, cheery scene that Callista had come to expect from her drawings at first glance. Dunwall Tower gleamed in the sun under the blue sky, and the ocean was a clean, pure colour.That was where the drawing’s sense ended. The cobblestone path they walked on was jumbled, disconnected, like the stones were some distance apart from each other. Dunwall Tower had no hill to rest on, and seemed to float in the sky itself. What Callista thought was the sea proved more a swirl of paint. The vortex drew her eyes up, and she beheld a whale.It was only a drawing, only a drawing, and yet, she could have sworn that the whale moved.;Or, a family can be an empress, a bodyguard/assassin, and an eldritch whale god.
Relationships: Corvo Attano/The Outsider (Dishonored)
Comments: 6
Kudos: 98





	How Predictable You Are

The first moment of many that Callista encountered would have raised an Overseer’s suspicions immediately, and likely begun a covert investigation into the royal family that would have brought a period of chaos to Dunwall. But instead, the Empress’ tutor found it, and the secret would go forever undiscovered.

Lady Emily had forgotten her homework in her room, or so she said, in what Callista was beginning to recognize as a move to waste time during tutoring sessions. She knew if she sent Lady Emily to retrieve it, the young Empress was unlikely to return. So Callista made the trip herself. Next time, she swore, she would have Lady Emily rewrite the homework on the spot. As it was, Callista was searching through the mess of papers on Lady Emily’s desk for the missing homework. They were mostly government documents she found, and she did her best to not linger any longer than it took to see what it was. She was just sorting through letters from the Duke of Serkonos when a spot of colour caught her eye, and she pulled out one of Lady Emily’s pictures.

It was the same bright, cheery scene that Callista had come to expect from her drawings at first glance. Dunwall Tower gleamed in the sun under the blue sky, and the ocean was a clean, pure colour. Lady Emily was there, smiling and holding hands with a similarly cheerful Corvo. It was a nice touch, and his goofy smile made Callista laugh a touch, if only because of how out of character it was. It only took one hand to count the number of times she had seen him smile. It was a shame; he looked so much younger, so much happier, with a smile.

That was where the drawing’s sense ended. The cobblestone path they walked on was jumbled, disconnected, like the stones were some distance apart from each other. Dunwall Tower had no hill to rest on, and seemed to float in the sky itself. What Callista thought was the sea proved more a swirl of paint. The vortex drew her eyes up, and she beheld a whale. The whale had a goofy smile like the others, with razor sharp teeth, scales all along its body and multiple fins hanging loose, and was entirely more detailed than Lady Emily should know how to draw. Callista had seen some of Sokolov’s drawings of the beasts, and felt Lady Emily’s matched his in detail if not in skill. Only the whalers and natural philosophers were so familiar with the beasts to warrant such detail. The whimsical way it swam through the air -- no, not swam, the only thing swimming was Callista’s vision. She’d heard the stories, of the sailors gone mad after beholding the beasts for too long. It was only a drawing, only a drawing, and yet, she could have sworn that the whale moved.

She returned the picture to its hiding place, and in the end found the homework stuffed into a pillow. When she returned to Lady Emily in the library, she made the Empress repeat the answers from memory, and made a note to talk to Corvo about the girl’s study habits.

~*~

There was once a time when the emperors of a previous dynasty made a show out of every meal. They would invite every visiting dignitary to a lavish spread for breakfast, and every noble in Dunwall to a feast for dinner. It was a time to celebrate, they would say, and every day saw a new excuse to gorge oneself. The birth of Lord Fyron’s son perhaps, or the good haul some fishermen brought back that day. It didn’t matter how frivolous the reason, a reason to celebrate and intimidate could always be found.

Lady Emily’s grandfather had found occasion to use these excuses to carry out real work, such as having a search carried out in a noble’s mansion while they wined and dined the Emperor. Empress Jessamine did away with that; feasts were reserved for grand occasions, and visiting dignitaries enjoyed simple luncheons with the Empress. After the Rat Plague arrived, those were gone as well. She held most of her meals exclusively with Lady Emily and Corvo. 

As for Lady Emily, she was taking after her mother. She took her meals in private, and most often only dined with Corvo as companion. Callista was sometimes invited as well, and she always took care to treasure the moments, like one morning in particular. 

Lady Emily had ordered a simple breakfast of eggs, toast and jam for each of them, and had it brought up to her rooms. Corvo had yet to show, but he would be along soon, based off of his track record. It seemed to be distressing Lady Emily though, judging by the way she was sulking into her food. Callista didn’t want to chide her, but this could turn into a bad habit if it went unaddressed. 

“Lady Emily,” she said, “remember to sit up straight. It may be just the two of us, but you must practice upholding your image.”

Lady Emily said, “I know, I know. An Empress mustn’t sulk, is that right?”

“Well, I’m sure Callista won’t tell on you to your other tutors, if they ever asked,” came a voice from the doorway.

“Oh, Corvo,” Callista sighed in relief. Now that he was here, Lady Emily should perk up. Except Lady Emily was sulking worse than ever. It was directed at Corvo now, instead of the food, and he looked like he’d picked up on it immediately. His movements were slow and thoughtful as he came in the room, as though -- ah.

He smelled of steel and river water, the same as after he’d returned from his missions. His slow movements implied exhaustion, and suddenly Lady Emily’s foul mood made sense. Corvo went out on another late night excursion. Callista opened her mouth to question him, but closed it again. It wasn’t her business anymore, the subterfuge he took part in, but Lady Emily was her business. If there was tension between the two, then it became Callista’s business. For the good of the Empire. Not because she was snooping.

“Good morning Corvo. You should eat while you still can. Lady Emily is scheduled to appear at Parliament this afternoon, so today is looking to be another long one,” Callista said. She beckoned to the third plate. “Your food has cooled off by now, but at least it’s still fresh.”

Corvo tilted his head to her in what she now knew was thanks, and took his seat. Lady Emily’s sulk had developed into a full-on pout. She slouched in her chair fiercely, and nibbled along the corner of her toast’s crust. Callista swallowed her sigh. Corvo wasn’t going to correct her posture, and Lady Emily wouldn’t listen even if he did. This was a matter they would need to resolve on their own.

She stood from the table after a few quiet minutes. Luckily, she had eaten most of her food, and might finish the rest if they resolved this quickly. “Please excuse me. I just remembered something I left in my room, I’ll return shortly,” she said. She was careful to shut the door quietly but firmly. 

It took ten minutes to walk to her room and back, but Callista added another ten under the pretense of needing to locate all the pages of her lesson plan. Upon her return, she was glad to see Lady Emily sitting upright and Corvo eating with slightly more gusto than usual. 

“Oh good, you’re back,” Lady Emily said. “You didn’t finish your food, so I told Corvo if you didn’t want it, he was going to have to eat it.”

“An unusual threat, to be sure,” Corvo said. He looked bemused.

“But a necessary one. I made Corvo promise to take better care of himself. He needs to get more sleep, is what he said. We’re in agreement on that one, but I also want him to stop going out without me. I said it’d be more interesting if we went together. He agreed, but Corvo said I have to do a lot of training before then,” Lady Emily said.

Callista couldn’t hold back her laugh. It was hard to imagine anyone else who could have the guts to scold the good Lord Protector. 

“Maybe we’ll focus on one thing at a time, first,” Corvo said.

“Sleep first then,” Lady Emily said decisively. “Because family time is important.”

Corvo sighed, but did nothing to hold back his smile. Callista wondered at the exchange briefly, but decided to let it go. For the good of the Empire, of course.

~*~

There was talk of the Head Maid retiring. She was getting on in years, and the stress of the job had worn her down beyond that too. It was no surprise, but it set Corvo on edge for reasons it took Callista a while to understand.

“He’s worried about my safety, of course,” Lady Emily told her. She was working on a new drawing, filled with whales this time. Lady Emily was in this one too, on a floating piece of land with a few healthy trees and an absurd number of flowers. Callista was fairly certain she’s never seen such a pastoral scene before, which could only exist outside of Dunwall. Lady Emily drew it anyway. There was space for someone else to be drawn in next to her, but she focused on the whales first. Lately Callista hasn’t seen her pictures when they’re done. 

Lady Emily continued, “I think what he’s most worried about is the safe room. We’re the only ones who can get in, but we usually let the Head Maid in to clean it from time to time.”

“Is he worried someone is going to tamper with it?” Callista asked.

Lady Emily shrugged. “I guess? He’s mostly worried about someone seeing something and telling others about it.”

This was a surprise to her. Callista had never thought about the safe room being used to guard state secrets as well as the royal family, but it made sense. She wondered if it was wise for Lady Emily to be telling her this. 

“I keep having to remind him that she promised to find someone devoted for her replacement,” Lady Emily continued. “I think he just worries because he thinks it’s fun.”

“I’m certain that you’ll be better at keeping your priorities in order when you come of age,” Callista said.

“I hope so,” Lady Emily agreed grimly.

The new Head Maid was chosen by the next week. Annabelle was steadfast in her demeanor and diligent in her work, and was respected by the other servants. It appeared Corvo’s misgivings about the replacement were unfounded. Callista even passed her once on her way out of Lady Emily’s room, carrying more bundles of cloth than she knew were in there. There was something haunted in the woman’s gaze, but her back was straight and she strode with more purpose than the Abbey had. 

She thought there was a bolt of purple and gold among the sheets, but a second glance revealed nothing.

~*~

The day came sooner than Callista would have liked, but later than she expected. Between Corvo’s new duties and increased nightly activities, and Lady Emily’s tightened schedule, they both elected to sacrifice some sleep to begin Lady Emily’s combat training. The knives were commissioned from a skilled metal worker, and the young Empress spent a long time simply becoming familiar with them to begin. But her eagerness led to a few accidents with the lamps, so Corvo made her actual lessons a priority quickly.

Callista never sat in on these lessons, but she always heard about them. Lady Emily was ecstatic to be living out the stories she invented, and from what she gleaned from her taciturn bodyguard, her progress was good too. Callista would be a hypocrite to say dreams of adventure were unknown to women. She knew the reasoning behind arming an Empress against would-be assassins. But seeing such a good-natured girl wield violence left a heaviness in her heart.

So it came as a surprise when Callista depended on violence to survive her kidnapping.

Kidnappings are no longer in vogue with the nobility, who prefer to silence their opponents permanently over the troublesome logistics of torture or ransom when so many had more gold than they knew what to do with. But that does not mean it wasn’t unheard of. Callista could not remember the day she was taken, and spent most of her captivity unconscious. Corvo would explain later that she had been drugged, but not by who, or for what. She thinks perhaps this was a mercy.

She remembered this: Waking on a cold, wet floor, in a dark room with only a few rats for company. Her head pounded unbearably. She felt too nauseous to move. Her hands were bound behind her back, but she wouldn’t do anything with them anyway. She just curled up on her side and tried not to puke. Eventually she fell asleep again. She woke up to the sound of heavy machinery grinding and squealing, and it hurt her head enough that she threw up that time. She moved away from it a while later, and slept again.

When she woke again, she was lying in a bed. The sun was up, too bright too bright, and then Sokolov was unforgivingly pouring a liquid into her mouth. She choked, but he pushed her head back and made her swallow every bit of it. She felt like her body was on fire. She was told later it rapidly purged the remaining drug in her system, but all she knew was pain in that moment. It was hours later when she became aware again, and knew she must have passed out at some point. This time, she had a more reasonable visitor in Corvo.

“Take it easy,” he said, and she realized she’d already sat up halfway when he said that. Still, she managed to push herself up the rest of the way without help. “How do you feel?” he asked when she settled.

“Honestly, I feel pretty shit,” Callista said. 

“That’s unsurprising,” he said. “You were gone most of the day, and you’ve been in the infirmary for two. Emily came to visit twice a day. She was so anxious for you to wake up.”

“I’m...glad to hear it. I’d be happy to see her visit...tomorrow. I’m not sure I have the energy to entertain her just yet,” she said.

“I’ll be sure to pass that along, but...you should know you don’t need to entertain her. Emily just wants to see you’re okay herself,” he said.

Callista felt a twinge of guilt at his words. Of course, after the recent chaos and the pain from losing her mother, Lady Emily would worry. She knew the young Empress didn’t open up to many. She had witnessed her closeness with Corvo, sensed the secret held between them carefully, and considered herself apart. 

“Yes, well,” she said, and stopped. She waited for some clever thing to come to her, but none did, so she settled on honesty. “Thank you Corvo. For your kind words, and for the rescue. It was you, wasn’t it?”

He looked away, and rubbed the back of his neck. “Figured me out, have you?”

“Well, who else could it be? First my uncle, and now you’ve saved my life as well. I know I can never pay you back, but just know that I will dedicate myself to you and Lady Emily until I can,” she said. 

At this Corvo frowned, and dropped his hand into his lap. “You don’t owe me anything,” he said. He stared at his hand, bound by leather straps. “Even if I had done something worth your devotion, it’s not like I acted on my own information.”

“What do you mean?” she said.

He hunched up. Callista wondered if he meant to say that last part out loud. Speaking slowly, he said, “When you were taken, there weren’t any clues left behind. Nothing to suggest who took you, or where. Emily was desperate. So I asked someone to help. That’s all.”

She frowned. “Well, that’s not so unusual, is it? Would it be possible for me to thank your friend in person, or are they the secretive type?”

“Not my friend.”

“Oh.” She said, “Well, your, uhm, ahem.”

Corvo sighed, and hung his head in defeat. Everyone had heard the rumours about the Empress and her Royal Protector, and Callista had her suspicions about their validity. It’d been nearly three years now, so she could hardly fault him for moving forward. There was something underlying this though, like there was something more to this. 

“It’s not like that either,” Corvo said. “I, care, about this person, but I don’t know if...no, forget it. I won’t burden you with this. Focus on your recovery, and help Emily learn what she needs to know. That’s all I ask.” He stood up to go. Callista had one thing to say before he did.

“Corvo, before you go,” she said, “I wanted to give this back to you.” She pulled the strange object out from under her pillow. It looked like it was made of bone, and the longer she looked at it, the deeper her head seemed to pound. She didn’t know how she knew it was there, she had never seen it before, but she was certain that it belonged to him.

Corvo startled, and reached for it quickly before stopping. He looked at her carefully, but Callista had no answers. Was just beginning to realize the depth of her questions. A great darkness seemed to be descending in her mind and it was coming from this thing. It could lead her to answers, and if those answers lay in the grave then she would follow the signs, know the truth behind the veil--

Corvo carefully took it from her hands. All at once the strange and terrible thoughts lifted. “Thank you,” he said. I should be thanking you, Callista thought. But she was much too dazed to speak.

Corvo left before she could ask for it back. That was, she thought, for the best.

~*~

Corvo waited until he made it back to the royal chambers. He slipped into the safe room and closed the passage behind him. He waited until the rune was settled on the shrine, the little shrine Emily wanted so badly to make for her friend, to speak. “You might have driven her insane,” he said.

All at once the world was leached of colour and sound. The clock’s pendulum froze mid-swing, and it felt as though all the warmth had gone. But it wasn’t cold either. It just was. 

“Even the most unstable men have to keep a rune for a week before it will destroy their minds,” the Outsider said. He had materialized behind Corvo, just for the pleasure of making him whirl around to face him, Corvo’s sure. “A few hours beneath a pillow will bring nothing but bad dreams for a time.”

“There are better ways to get my attention than this,” he said. Consequences or no, he needed to draw the line around Callista, and other innocents, before they got drawn into something bigger than they could handle.

“Naturally, which is why I’ll give you a hint. One should look to those in charge of bedsheets first, if they find the quality in their service lacking,” the Outsider said.

Corvo took pause, and grimly confirmed, “Annabelle.”

“She’s a devoted one, and only the resources denied to her are keeping her sanity intact,” the Outsider said. He walked slowly over to the shrine, arms crossed behind his back. He looked it over carefully, like he doesn’t have a perfect replica of it in the Void to visit.

“In other words, I’ll need to keep a closer eye on her, if she’s finding her own cache of runes,” Corvo said. Just his luck.

“If that is what you choose to do,” the Outsider said. “It’s just one of many choices you could make about her. But then again, you know best of all what a single choice can do.” He reached out with one hand to skim over Emily’s drawing, one of many nailed to the shrine. Corvo didn’t need to look to know which one it was.

The three of them, in a white pavilion overlooking the endless Void.

“You know me best of all. I’m sure you already know what it is I’ll choose to do,” Corvo said.

“But do you?” The Outsider turned back to him, arms crossed, and though his eyes were blacker than the bottom of the sea, Corvo thought them beautiful. The Outsider said, “I gave you my Mark because I wanted to know what happens when you push a man down in the mud, and then give him the power to do whatever he wants. I chose you because I never know what you’ll do next.”

“Then you’ll just have to stick around to find out, won’t you?” Corvo said. He smiled wryly, and the one he received in turn was dark, and charmed.

“I’ll be expecting a good show,” the Outsider said, with the certainty of one who had seen all the play’s endings and just had to pick their favourite.

The secret entrance groaned as hidden gears shifted to open the passage, and Corvo had enough time to wonder when the Outsider allowed time to flow once more before Emily poked her head in.

“Corvo? Are you in here?” she called out.

“I’m here,” he answered.

She came in fully, and closed the entrance behind her. Just in time to see their guest, and block the entrance to cover her voice. “Outsider!” she squeed. Emily threw herself down the stairs and towards them with great speed. She barely skirted to a stop before running right into the Outsider, but Corvo bet that it wouldn’t be long before he learned what it was like to hug an Empress.

“If I knew you were here, I’d have brought my new painting! You didn’t spy on it, did you? I’ve been working on it for days now, I think it’ll look perfect if we nail it to the right side, Sokolov said it’s important to create balance in art, so this should do the trick I think,” she said.

“Ah,” the Outsider said. He’d gone completely still, and his jaw was clenched. His discomfort came off of him like the ocean’s waves lapping at a shore.

“It’ll look wonderful,” Corvo said.

Emily frowned at him. “How do you know? You haven’t seen it yet either.”

“I’m your Royal Spymaster. Of course I’ve seen it, it wouldn’t do to have any secrets hiding from me in Dunwall Tower,” he said. 

“You’re awful!” Emily said. She turned to the Outsider and said, “And what about you?”

The Outsider was quiet a moment, and then smirked and said, “And deny a specific request from our dear Lady Emily? You have nothing to fear, I haven’t looked in on your painting.”

Corvo wondered what it said about him that the alleged source of all evil had better self-control than he did. Then again, he might be lying. Corvo never could tell.

“What shall we do with you, dear Corvo? Defying your Empress’s orders is a very serious crime,” the Outsider said.

“With very severe punishments,” Emily agreed.

Corvo was speechless. He was being ganged up on by his daughter and the bloody Outsider. “You know, I wouldn’t have seen it if the Outsider hadn’t left it on my desk with my mail. He hinted that it was something I should pay special attention to. I daresay I’ve been framed.” When being assaulted, parry.

Emily whirled on the Outsider again. “How could you!”

“Quite easily, if I’m to be honest,” he replied.

“Hmph,” she said. She crossed her arms and scrunched her face, thinking carefully. “Since you’re both guilty of exposing state secrets, I’ll need to come up with separate punishments that are suitable for the two of you. Corvo’s easy; I want you to take me with you the next time you go out at night.”

“No,” Corvo said.

“You’ll teach me to run on rooftops.”

“Not yet.”

“I’ll get extra fighting lessons?”

“...Only if it doesn’t interfere with your other studies.”

“Close enough,” Emily shrugged, and then moved to her next target. “You’re a bit tougher, but I’m sure there’s something that would suit you.”

“If such a thing exists, then the Empress of the Isles will certainly find it,” the Outsider said.

“You could let her ride a whale,” Corvo suggested. “Like she’s been asking.”

The Outsider did a very good job of pretending he didn’t hear that.

“Maybe it would be best if I saved this for a future crisis,” Emily said thoughtfully. “Knowing the future would be helpful…”

“A wise decision,” the Outsider smiled.

“Hmmm...well, I shall give this more thought. For now,” Emily declared, grasping hold of each of their hands in one of hers, “I want to play hide and seek.”

“Only if the Outsider doesn’t cheat again,” Corvo sighed, acquiescing his hand. 

“A thousand futures spin from every action. Even I can’t predict them all,” he said. Corvo stole a glance at him; he was smiling angelically, like an asshole.

Emily was undeterred. She started pulling them towards the door. “Perfect! That means you’ll never be able to guess my hiding spot.”

“That depends,” he said, “entirely on how predictable you are.” The Outsider’s smile softened, and though his eyes were perfectly black, Corvo met them with his own.

“You’d be surprised at how resourceful she can be,” he answered. Emily was humming a little tune between them, and the Outsider looked happy. It was the most peace Corvo had felt in a long time. He locked the moment in his heart, and swore to never let it go.

“And that, dear Corvo,” the Outsider said, “is exactly what I’m hoping for.”

**Author's Note:**

> Me, rolling up to the dishonored fandom: can I get uuhhhh some corvosider being married and raising emily ?
> 
> the dishonored fandom: corvosider family machine broke, you gotta write it yourself
> 
> Me: understandable, have a nice day


End file.
